Hi5, a social network turned social gaming platform, has announced the launch of SocioPay today, a monetization service aimed at increasing revenue in social games. It works by identifying personalized monetization strategies based on each individual customer, allowing for a variety of payment options to grow potential revenue. Targeting specific users and their spending habits allows SocioPay to display traditional advertising in place of payment options to bring in revenue even from players who are unlikely to spend money within the game.

This new monetization service will be cross-platform, working on Hi5′s new SocioPath social gaming network and also on Facebook. “While results are still early, we expect SocioPay to increase revenue in social games by 200%-300% over traditional commerce and lead-generation offers found on other social networks,” said Monty Kerr, Hi5 Vice President of Commerce and Advertising, in a press release today. “The key innovation is that SocioPay extends beyond the Hi5 platform; allowing developers to see dramatically increased revenue wherever their social games are distributed – even on other social networks.”

SocioPath and SocioPay will be launching at GDC 2011 and will allow games distributed over the hi5 gaming platform to be available on its website without requiring a registration to play. Developers who launch their games on the Hi5 network are invited to use SocioPay to help bring in revenue across platforms.

More information about Hi5′s developer platform can be found here.

Tami Baribeau is Senior Community Manager at ZipZapPlay and a contributor to Inside Social Games.