From Football to Forests: Hakan Çalhanoğlu Teams Up with Candy Crush and Fortnite Veterans for Revolutionary Web3 Climate Game

Football superstar Hakan Çalhanoğlu just made an unexpected pivot—joining gaming legends behind Candy Crush and Fortnite in a blockchain-powered climate solution.

Web3 Meets Environmental Action

The Inter Milan midfielder is swapping assists for carbon credits, partnering with veteran developers who collectively generated over $20 billion in gaming revenue. Their new play-to-earn ecosystem lets users combat deforestation while earning tokenized rewards—turning environmental action into gamified profit.

Why Athletes Are Betting on Blockchain

Çalhanoğlu’s move mirrors a growing trend of athletes leveraging their influence beyond traditional endorsements. Instead of pushing sneakers or energy drinks, he’s backing digital assets with real-world impact—proving that even in crypto, it’s not just about the money… though let’s be honest, the tokenomics probably didn’t hurt.

Gaming Giants Go Green

The team behind this project built empires on addictive gameplay. Now they’re applying those same psychological hooks to climate action. Users plant virtual trees that translate to real reforestation projects—each backed by verifiable blockchain tracking.

Because nothing motivates change like making sustainability competitively rewarding—and potentially profitable. Even Wall Street might finally notice climate change when there’s a derivative to trade.

My Lovely Planet (MLP), a Web3 game developed by veterans behind some of the world’s most successful casual and social games and recognized by Google, has unveiled its latest initiative: a real-world forest in Turkey that grows with every in-game achievement.

The launch coincides with a high-profile partnership with international football star Hakan Çalhanoğlu, who, alongside his wife Sinem, has taken an active role in the project. Together, they are spearheading the “Çalhanoğlu Forest,” a reforestation campaign designed to restore land destroyed by wildfires in Kuşadası, Aydın Province.

Casual Gaming Meets Climate Tech

Unlike traditional play-to-earn games that reward users with tokens or NFTs, My Lovely Planet positions itself as play-to-impact. Players don’t just collect points or coins – they plant trees. Each completed level funds real-world reforestation, with saplings tracked, planted, and monitored in collaboration with local environmental organizations.

For Çalhanoğlu, captain of Turkey’s national football team, the project represents a personal mission. He has personally financed the first 10,000 trees – the equivalent of 50 soccer fields – as part of phase one of the reforestation effort. The trees, which include Turkish pine and oak, are being planted in fire-damaged areas to ensure both ecological resilience and long-term impact.

“Football has given me so much, and now I want to give something back, not just to my country, but to the world,” Hakan said in a statement. “With My Lovely Planet, fans can have fun and directly join me in bringing impact while enjoying the game. Together, we can make gaming meaningful.”

Through the #PlayForTurkey campaign, fans and gamers worldwide can contribute by simply downloading and playing the app. Each in-game action translates into trees planted in the Çalhanoğlu Forest.

Building the Next Generation of Games

MLP’s founders bring a track record of scaling games to hundreds of millions of downloads. By combining that expertise with Web3 infrastructure, the game provides transparency and verifiable impact. Users can track the number of trees planted thanks to blockchain-backed records, ensuring that gameplay has measurable results beyond the digital world.

The project highlights a new direction for the gaming industry, one where entertainment doesn’t just generate profits but creates collective good. Rather than following the speculative path of many crypto-native games, My Lovely Planet integrates blockchain quietly in the background – giving players a familiar mobile gaming experience while ensuring credibility and accountability.

With more projects planned across different countries and ecosystems, My Lovely Planet is aiming to scale its model beyond Turkey. By tapping into the mass appeal of casual gaming and the trust mechanisms of Web3, it hopes to turn everyday screen time into the largest coordinated climate action movement yet.

As CEO Clément Le Bras put it: “We’re building more than a game. We’re building a movement where entertainment fuels real-world action.”