Video games are not just a work of art; they also involve a significant amount of programming. This programming part can be developed using code (C++) or software models (Blueprints), as is the case with the widespread Unreal game engine. In fact, in Unreal projects, it is common to use both code and software models. This work deepens our understanding of the use of code and software models in the software development of video games. To achieve this, we conducted a controlled experiment by comparing code and software models in Unreal. The experiment involved 31 active professional developers from 15 video game companies. Our results can help to explain the success of software models in video game development. Our work argues that the success of MDD in video games might come from the coexistence of models and code as the main artifacts for development This challenges the traditional model to code approach of MDD. Beyond video games, this hybrid approach has potential to bring the benefits of MDD to more software engineering domains.