Yossarian grew up in rural Nova Scotia, where he was home-schooled and lived without electricity until the age of 13. Just two years later, he was programming games on his Commodore 64. He went on to complete a co-op computer science degree at Dalhousie University and earned a master’s in machine vision from the University of British Columbia. After a brief detour into embedded software development, he joined Electronic Arts, where he spent 15 years as a developer and technical lead on FIFA Soccer and various other games. In 2010, he co-founded Blackbird Interactive as Chief Technical Officer, a role he held until 2024. He was the technical lead for the studio's first game, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, and played a key role in growing and mentoring technical teams across projects as the company expanded from a small group of four in a garage to a multi-project studio with hundreds of staff.
Yossarian has a longstanding interest in education and has given guest lectures at UBC, BCIT, Kwantlen Polytechnic, and other institutions. He has presented at multiple Unite conferences and the Game Developers Conference. He also helped establish the BC Game Developers Innovation Award, which has supported high school science fair projects across British Columbia since 2018. Outside of work, Yossarian enjoys ultimate frisbee, cycling (and unicycling), running, travel, and especially disc golf. He currently serves as the 50+ Coordinator for the BC Disc Golf Association and is working to bring his PDGA rating up over 900.