During production, Nomura and Tabata stated that the team were aiming to sell 500,000 copies of the game, a sales-goal based strategy they had previously used for Crisis Core. During its first week, The 3rd Birthday debuted at #6 in Japanese gaming charts, selling 140,000 units.
Nomura and Tabata aimed to achieve sales of 500,000 copies through a goal-based strategy, which they had successfully used before with Crisis Core. The game's initial performance was measured by its debut at #6 on the Japanese gaming charts, with 140,000 units sold in its first week.