From a pragmatic point of view I would actually expect it to be pretty common for games to sacrifice code quality. You build a game with a set end date, and do

From a pragmatic point of view I would actually expect it to be pretty common for games to sacrifice code quality. You build a game with a set end date, and do a small amount of maintenance on it moving forward. As opposed to an engine where it's a product you're building on and you want to grow over a much larger timeframe, and those unfamiliar with a piece of code are likely to maintain it down the road.