Yep, that's exactly right. I remember at the time Dave Perry seemed to be everywhere 24/7 pumping Messiah as something that would change gaming forever. Back then the developer fights were common, with tech arguments between id Software (Paul Steed instigating) / Epic / Shiny / whomever.

In the end, it didn't sell particularly well, it cost a lot to make, and it had a lot of performance problems.

Have to wonder who thought a game about a cherub named "bob" would sell like crazy.