Dark Cloud was first released in Japan on December 14, 2000. It was localized in English and released in North America and Europe the following year and was touted by Sony as being 30% larger than the original Japanese release. The additional content included an updated battle system, extra weapons and monsters, improved AI, additional Duel battles, and a 100-floor post-game dungeon exclusive to the English-language release called the "Demon Shaft".
The Flapping Duster, a key to access the back area in the Gallery of Time, is accidentally rendered unused via typo in the western version of Dark Cloud, thus permanently disabling access to the floor without the use of a cheat device.