in 1996, three years after he first interviewed with the company, hedlund ran into the three founders of condor (sti and condor were closely located on the eastern edge of the sf peninsula). he was impressed by the potential of their latest game, "diablo", and immediately joined the team taking on the lead design role. three months before the release of "diablo", blizzard acquired condor and renamed the company blizzard north. "diablo" would go on to become one of the most highly rated games of 1996.