If you're getting paid to do it, and you don't own the product/system being sold (as in, making a game you sell to customers), you owe your employer an explanation of what you're doing and why if asked. You're selling your time and skills in exchange for their money, which they want to turn into more money.

This question would get the same response from me if posed by an aerospace engineer in the context of making planes for Boeing versus a home-built ultralight aircraft or drone. Sure, you don't get the same control, and you have to explain your choices and efforts to your employer, because you're not doing the same thing in those two situations.

If you want to find joy in programming, you need to own the project or find a project and organization aligned with what brings you joy. I wouldn't get any joy out of making some b2b financial services system, but I would get money from it so probably wouldn't object. I'd clock out at 4pm or whenever my 8 hours were up every day. OTOH, I did enjoy making and testing safety critical systems for aircraft. I wouldn't do it as a hobby, but I wouldn't object to longer hours to try and get things working.