The Resources Development Administration, or RDA, is the primary antagonist from the first Avatar movie. Shown to wield both military and financial power the organization was dead set on mining the aptly named unobtanium from the moon Pandora. While their exact actions in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora have not been seen yet, it is probably safe to assume that they will be as problematic in the game as they were in the first movie.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will likely give players a more intimate experience of the maliciousness that the RDA is capable of as well. Especially since the organization’s history of violence and power seems to have a consistent presence in the Avatar universe. As the single largest non-governmental organization, the RDA has been able to set itself up with a fairly lucrative treaty. Enforced by the Interplanetary Commerce Association the treaty gives the RDA the rights to all materials, minerals, and other products from Pandora in perpetuity; as long as the organization does not use weapons of mass destruction in space and limits its military power.
The restrictions placed on the RDA by its treaty may seem significant to some but it could be argued that while the explicit restriction on WMDs is clear the limit of military power is debatable. Given the vast wealth that the RDA has been able to accrue thanks to the global highspeed transportation that the organization set up, and minimal oversight off-world, the RDA owns a variable army. The organization’s military force even rivals that of most countries on Earth.
This puts the RDA in a position to be as openly hostile on Pandora as they see fit. An action that is demonstrated at the climax of the first Avatar movie. With the RDA’s forward assault on the Na’vi and disregard for native flora and fauna, they have shown themselves willing to strip the minerals and materials they are interested in regardless of what other sentient beings may be in proximity. Addressing these actions in Frontiers of Pandora could help to bridge the franchise's gap while conveying the increasing severity of the RDA's actions.
How The RDA Started
The RDA did not start as a massive entity though. As a Silicon Valley startup in the context of corporations, their beginnings were humble. But like many of the major corporations that plague different video games, the RDA has become an entity that wields its powers for its self-interests. This is disappointing to see given the social good the RDA seems to have initially brought. The high-speed and global rail system that they built is no small feat, but as Frontiers of Pandora works to prove that the series was not a fluke, the RDA's benevolence likely was.
This massive project plays into how Avatar continues to be impressive. Such a network allows people to travel to the other side of the planet in a minimal amount of time with no worries about how long it takes to get home. This can make visiting family and friends internationally a breeze and allows people to work in areas that might have otherwise been inaccessible to them. Still, the RDA that established the project and the RDA that now funds it appears to have changed over time.
With the employment of their massive paramilitary force, aggressive mining practices, and unique rights to off-world materials the RDA has grown to be larger-than-life. Their political, financial, and military power is almost unmatched and the organization continues to use this to its advantage as it plays into Avatar's core conceit.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is slated for release in 2022 on Amazon Luna, Google Stadia, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.