There's been a lot of grief over Earth Mode Hound appearing in a multipack rather than an individual release but it turns out that he was originally cancelled. Similarly to when Walmart chose to back out on wanting toy deco voysger Hot Rod in their Velocitron line, Target backed out on wanting more individual deluxes in their Buzzworthy line.
So yes, the reason why you initially saw renders but then heard no news is because Hatchet and Hound were
canceled. And since Hasbro already had all their other lines planned out, there was no place to release these toys. However, Hasbro has since found a way to bring us Hound (or at least this is what is assumed) in the upcoming Autobot multipack. So while Hatchet is still cancelled, the toy may resurface through another release.
Looking at this, while the multipack release may be annoying, this is a second resort and it's basically either that or no release. Also, the original Buzzworthy release would have of course been exclusive while this Gen Selects multipack is not said to be so yet (most Gen Selects releases have not been exclusive and can easily be bought from online retsilers). So you tell us which is your preferred option in light of these cancelled plans.
If you are curious as to why Target backed out, JTprime17 states that it's due to poor sales of the previous deluxes in the Buzzworthy line,
which they later clarify to be the Cliffjumper/Kup/Bee wave which are currently being found at Ollie's and other liquidators. So if any fans were looking for proof as to the downside of hoping for clearance and liquidation finds, well the cancelation of these individual releases is a clear consequence.
JTprime17 wrote:Target backed out due to poor sales of the first deluxe wave [Cliffjumper/Kup/Bee wave]. It is what it is.