Key Highlights:
- Konami surveyed PES fans in Argentina and Chile as it looked to expand the series’ appeal across Latin America.
- Mariano Closs and Fernando Niembro topped the Argentine commentator vote, while Patricio Yáñez and Fernando Solabarrieta led in Chile.
- PES 2014 ultimately included local commentary and domestic leagues for both Argentina and Chile.
Konami was laying the groundwork for a stronger Latin American presence with PES 2014, using fan surveys in Argentina and Chile to identify the football commentators players most wanted to hear in the game.
The surveys asked fans in the two countries to vote for their preferred commentators. Mariano Closs and Fernando Niembro emerged as the leading choices in Argentina, while Patricio Yáñez and Fernando Solabarrieta were selected by Chilean fans.
At the time, the results did not constitute official confirmation that those commentators would appear in PES 2014. They did, however, offer an early indication of Konami’s plans to give the series greater regional identity in South America.
The move followed growing momentum for Pro Evolution Soccer in Latin America, particularly Brazil, where PES 2012 and PES 2013 had performed strongly.
PES 2014 later confirmed how far that localisation strategy would go. The finished game included Argentine commentary from Closs and Niembro, Chilean commentary from Solabarrieta and Yáñez, and the fully licensed Primera División competitions from both Argentina and Chile.
Konami was not alone in targeting the region that year, with EA Sports also adding the Chilean Primera División to FIFA 14 ahead of its September 2013 release.
Before those regional features were confirmed, Konami’s next major step was revealing the new game technology behind PES 2014, with the series moving to a new engine derived from Kojima Productions’ Fox Engine.
