Sony is gearing up to make virtual reality mainstream with the October release of PlayStation VR headgear at $399.

During a press event in San Francisco on Tuesday, Sony Computer Entertainment chief executive, Andrew House said, "Virtual reality represents a new frontier for gaming, one that will forever change the way users interact with games."

The headsets are created to plug into PlayStation 4 (PS4) consoles. Sony advertised PS4 as its fastest-selling console ever with more than 36 million sold since they arrived in the market in late 2013.

But Sony is facing competition from Facebook-owned virtual reality start Oculus who will begin shipping its Rift headsets later this month. Oculus has been accepting orders for Rift at a price of $599. It is also taking pre-orders on bundles combining Rift with compatible gaming computers with prices starting from $1,500.

Purchasing a PS4 and PlayStation VR would be about half that price.

More than 230 developers and publishers are developing games for PlayStation VR, with some 50 titles likely to be available by the end of this year, according to Sony.

The list includes French video game titan Ubisoft, which is developing an "Eagle Flight" game and a collaboration between Electronic Arts, DICE, and Lucasfilm developing a new "Star Wars Battlefront" title for PlayStation VR.