What games are you thinking about where this applies?

Many of the most popular games with which I'm familiar (Overwatch, PUBG, Starcraft II, DotA, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, etc.) seem to have very high skill ceilings. That is, high-level competitive players in those games are way better than the average gamer.

I think a big way these games bring in players/stay current is by having a very active esports scene -- which only really works when you have "pro" quality players.

With the exception of time-gated achievement games (most MMOs, for example), the trend I see is a low barrier-to-entry but a very high skill ceiling.

One tactic that seems pretty common is to get people in-game quickly (f2p), teach them the core gameplay mechanics, then make it a very time-consuming grind to achieve the highest levels of play.