According to a former employee of Lionhead Studios, being openly gay at a Microsoft-owned development studio can be just as bad as having an openly gay Xbox Live gamertag.

Gay video game designer Jamie Durrant is suing Microsoft for £45,000 in ‘hurt feelings’ and lost pay, claiming discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Durrant claims that following Microsoft’s buyout of Lionhead, where he has worked for the past 11 years, the atmosphere began to grow uneasy. Around January of last year, Jamie says he began receiving abusive emails with subjects that read “I’m Jim and I’m Gay” and “Me and my Favourite Men”, and that he was given the nickname “Fag Boy Jim”, kotaku.com reports.

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