It seems that before E3 each year, we end up getting a series of potential leaks and rumors about a new entry in the Banjo-Kazooie series only for those said leaks to eventually be disproven. Well, here we are once again, a week before E3, and it's happening all over again.Over on Twitter a few days ago, a Banjo-Kazooie fan account tweeted a meme featuring the iconic duo which had to do with the likelihood of seeing a new game appear at E3 2019. The tweet ended up getting a fair amount of traction on it which then led to the UK-based merchandise company Exquisite Gaming responding with an image of an upcoming product featuring the famous bird and bear that started to raise a lot of eyebrows.Here's the exchange:

While this normally wouldn't mean too much, what many quickly pointed out is that the backpack seen in the image shared from Exquisite Gaming is pretty different looking from past entries in the series. This means that the character model of Banjo and Kazooie has been overhauled to some degree.

Going one step further, another fan pointed out that Exquisite Gaming usually only comes out with new products like this when it coincides with the release of a new game, citing the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and the Spyro Reignited Trilogy as examples. Exquisite Gaming ended up responding with another tweet that seemed to tease that they might be on the right trail here.

Okay, so there's a whole lot to break down here. While none of this outright confirms that a new Banjo-Kazooie game is indeed coming, it sure does seem way more feasible than past leaks we've heard of in the past. The fact that Banjo's character model has had some sort of redesign says a lot and the fact that this is all coming out just before E3 is super interesting.

It's also worth noting though that this potential leak might not be for a new Banjo-Kazooie entry, but could instead signal an appearance of Banjo in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a DLC character, which is something fans have been begging for. However, as pointed out by one @PushDustin on Twitter, it'd be somewhat unusual for Nintendo to be the one giving Banjo a new look rather than Rare or Microsoft. Because of this, whatever Exquisite Gaming is teasing here seems to have more of a chance to be a whole new game rather than Smash Bros. DLC.

This is a wild, wild story and I'm really not trying to place much stock in it just yet. I'd encourage you to do the same. If we're lucky enough to be getting a new Banjo-Kazooie game of some sort though, you'd have to imagine we'd hear about it this coming Sunday at the Xbox press conference on June 9.

Please, Microsoft. Please.