IMO doing both code and art at the same time is the best place to be, and it has served my career well, in both CG films and in games. The point of learning art isn’t necessarily to get a job making assets, it’s to be a better developer, and learning art seriously will make you a better developer. (Also artists who learn to code seriously are better artists, this goes both ways.)

It’s a mistake to think that software engineers making assets is a waste of time. Engineering and games in general would be better if every dev took a rotation in the art department. The reason companies silo and specialize their teams isn’t for your benefit, it’s for the short-term efficiency of a specific production.

It’s a bonus that you could make assets if you want, as opposed to the vast majority of programmers who can’t. Being able to code+art will also give someone a major leg up in small shops and/or for solo devleopment.