From Football to Forests: Hakan Çalhanoğlu Joins Gaming Veterans Behind Candy Crush and Fortnite in Web3 Climate Game

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.”