diff --git a/apps/openmw/engine.cpp b/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
index 2e5689fa8..147057cf1 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ OMW::Engine::Engine(Files::ConfigurationManager& configurationManager)
   , mGrab(true)
   , mScriptBlacklistUse (true)
   , mExportFonts(false)
+  , mNewGame (false)
 {
     std::srand ( std::time(NULL) );
     MWClass::registerClasses();
@@ -264,9 +265,10 @@ void OMW::Engine::setScriptsVerbosity(bool scriptsVerbosity)
     mVerboseScripts = scriptsVerbosity;
 }
 
-void OMW::Engine::setSkipMenu (bool skipMenu)
+void OMW::Engine::setSkipMenu (bool skipMenu, bool newGame)
 {
     mSkipMenu = skipMenu;
+    mNewGame = newGame;
 }
 
 std::string OMW::Engine::loadSettings (Settings::Manager & settings)
@@ -472,7 +474,7 @@ void OMW::Engine::go()
     }
     else
     {
-        MWBase::Environment::get().getStateManager()->newGame (true);
+        MWBase::Environment::get().getStateManager()->newGame (!mNewGame);
     }
 
     // Start the main rendering loop
diff --git a/apps/openmw/engine.hpp b/apps/openmw/engine.hpp
index 10c1f6ff2..0f5b66f2f 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/engine.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/engine.hpp
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ namespace OMW
             Translation::Storage mTranslationDataStorage;
             std::vector<std::string> mScriptBlacklist;
             bool mScriptBlacklistUse;
+            bool mNewGame;
 
             // not implemented
             Engine (const Engine&);
@@ -153,7 +154,11 @@ namespace OMW
             /// Disable or enable all sounds
             void setSoundUsage(bool soundUsage);
 
-            void setSkipMenu (bool skipMenu);
+            /// Skip main menu and go directly into the game
+            ///
+            /// \param newGame Start a new game instead off dumping the player into the game
+            /// (ignored if !skipMenu).
+            void setSkipMenu (bool skipMenu, bool newGame);
 
             void setGrabMouse(bool grab) { mGrab = grab; }
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw/main.cpp b/apps/openmw/main.cpp
index 57b3e045e..f81df31ff 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/main.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/main.cpp
@@ -153,6 +153,9 @@ bool parseOptions (int argc, char** argv, OMW::Engine& engine, Files::Configurat
         ("skip-menu", bpo::value<bool>()->implicit_value(true)
             ->default_value(false), "skip main menu on game startup")
 
+        ("new-game", bpo::value<bool>()->implicit_value(true)
+            ->default_value(false), "run new game sequence (ignored if skip-menu=0)")
+
         ("fs-strict", bpo::value<bool>()->implicit_value(true)
             ->default_value(false), "strict file system handling (no case folding)")
 
@@ -256,7 +259,9 @@ bool parseOptions (int argc, char** argv, OMW::Engine& engine, Files::Configurat
 
     // startup-settings
     engine.setCell(variables["start"].as<std::string>());
-    engine.setSkipMenu (variables["skip-menu"].as<bool>());
+    engine.setSkipMenu (variables["skip-menu"].as<bool>(), variables["new-game"].as<bool>());
+    if (!variables["skip-menu"].as<bool>() && variables["new-game"].as<bool>())
+        std::cerr << "new-game used without skip-menu -> ignoring it" << std::endl;
 
     // scripts
     engine.setCompileAll(variables["script-all"].as<bool>());
diff --git a/readme.txt b/readme.txt
index a02cc4ebc..79ffa7a8f 100644
--- a/readme.txt
+++ b/readme.txt
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ Allowed options:
                                         correctly compiled anyway
                                         2 - treat warnings as errors
   --skip-menu [=arg(=1)] (=0)           skip main menu on game startup
+  --new-game [=arg(=1)] (=0)            run new game sequence (ignored if
+                                        skip-menu=0)
   --fs-strict [=arg(=1)] (=0)           strict file system handling (no case
                                         folding)
   --encoding arg (=win1252)             Character encoding used in OpenMW game