CCP Games periodically raises system requirements for EVE Online when they feel those minimum requirements are holding the game back. This is going to happen with this winter's Dominion expansion when players will need Windows XP Service Pack 2 to run the EVE client. The game will be getting a graphics update that includes a new look for some of EVE's planets and the Chromium powered in-game browser will require that XP users step up to at least Service Pack 2.
No hardware system requirement increases have been announced, just the need for players to update to Service Pack 2. This will only affect 0.4% of the game's Windows XP users, according to EVE dev CCP Explorer in his latest dev blog. CCP Games will also officially begin supporting Windows 7 with Dominion.
