In May 2003, Marek Bronstring of Adventure Gamers wrote that "The Longest Journey" "sold half a million copies worldwide and it's still selling, making it one of the most successful adventure games in recent years." The following year, IGN reported that its sales had surpassed 500,000 units. The site's Richard Aihoshi summarized "The Longest Journey" as a "a critical and commercial success". In 2019, Tørnquist recalled that "at least 50 per cent" of "The Longest Journey"s players were female, a fact that he believed increased its commercial success.