505 Games was founded in Milan, Italy, in 2006 as a subsidiary of Digital Bros. The company found its early success through its video games such as Cooking Mama and Zumba Fitness.
In April 2012, 505 Games took over publishing duties from THQ for the fitness game Adidas MiCoach, following a lawsuit between THQ and Adidas. In April 2013, they acquired the license of Drawn To Life series. The purchase includes rights to the franchise as a whole. In April 2014, 505 Games announced a publishing agreement with Adam Orth’s Three One Zero of the game Adrift. The game is described as a first-person experience, where the player controls an astronaut exploring debris of a wrecked station in outer space. In January 2015, 505 Games confirmed the acquisition of the intellectual property (IP) rights to the multi-award-winning Game of the Year 2013, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons from Starbreeze Studios. In April 2015, 505 Games announced a publishing agreement with Swedish game developer Starbreeze for the game Overkill’s The Walking Dead, which released in late 2018. A month later, 505 Games announced a publishing agreement with game developer Overkill Software for the game Payday 2 Crimewave Edition. In August 2016, 505 Games announced it would be publishing Virginia from Variable State.